Rent (musical)
This is about '''the musical.' For the film adaptation, see Rent (2005 film).'' Rent is a stage musical based on the opera La Bohème. Cast *Anthony Rapp - Mark *Adam Pascal - Roger Davis *Daphne Rubin-Vega - Mimi *Jesse L. Martin - Tom Collins *Idina Menzel - Maureen *Fredi Walker - Joanne *Taye Diggs - Benjamin Coffin III *Kristen Lee Kelly - Mark's Mom *Aiko Nakasone - Alexi Darling *Timothy Britten Parker - Gordon Plot On Christmas Eve in Manhattan's East Village, two roommates—Mark, a filmmaker, and Roger, a rock musician—struggle to stay warm and produce their art. Mark's mother leaves him a voicemail wishing him a merry Christmas and trying to comfort him since his ex-girlfriend Maureen dumped him. Their friend Collins, a gay anarchist Ivy League tutor, calls and plans to surprise them at their apartment, but is mugged before entering. At the same time, Mark and Roger's former roommate Benny, who has since become their harsh new landlord, has reneged on an earlier agreement and now demands last year's rent, before shutting down their electrical power. However, Mark and Roger rebel and pledge to not pay the rent they were promised wouldn't be a problem. Meanwhile, a cross-dressing street drummer (currently out of drag) named Angel finds Collins wounded in an alley and tends to him. The two are immediately attracted to each other, and learn that they are both HIV positive. Roger also has HIV which he contracted from his last girlfriend, who committed suicide, causing Roger to fall into a deep depression. Mark goes looking for Collins, while Roger wishes to write one last song to be remembered by before he dies. An exotic dancer, junkie, and neighbor, Mimi, shows up to flirt with Roger, but he is clearly hesitant to start a new relationship. Meanwhile, Joanne, a lawyer and Maureen's girlfriend, receives a voicemail from her parents. At last, the missing Collins enters the apartment, presenting Angel, who is now in full drag and shares the money she made and the amusing story of how she killed a dog to earn it. Benny arrives, speaking of Maureen's upcoming protest against his plans to evict the homeless from a lot where he is hoping to build a cyber arts studio. Benny offers that, if they convince Maureen to cancel the protest, then Mark and Roger can officially remain rent-free tenants. However, the two rebuff Benny's offer and he leaves. Mark must leave to fix Maureen's sound equipment for the protest, but he unexpectedly meets Joanne at the stage. They overcome their awkwardness by connecting over their shared distrust of Maureen's promiscuous behaviours. Mark joins Collins and Angel to film their HIV support group meeting, while Mimi attempts to seduce Roger alone in his apartment. Roger is clearly upset by Mimi's intrusion and he demands she leave him alone. After Mimi leaves, Roger reflects on his fear of dying from AIDS, while the Life Support group echoes his thoughts. Collins, Mark, and Angel protect a homeless woman from police harassment, but she chastises them. To lighten the mood, Collins talks about his dream of escaping New York City to open a restaurant in Santa Fe. Soon, Mark leaves to check up on Roger and while alone, Collins and Angel confess their love for each other. Joanne hectically prepares for Maureen's show, trying to balance all of the people calling her at once. Before the performance, Roger apologizes to Mimi, inviting her to come to the protest and the dinner party his friends are having afterwards. At the same time, police, vendors, and homeless people prepare for the protest. Maureen begins her avant-garde, if not over the top, performance based on "Hey Diddle Diddle". At Life Café after the show, Benny criticizes the protest and the group's bohemian lifestyle. In response, Mark and all the café's bohemian patrons defiantly rise up to celebrate their way of living. Mimi and Roger each discover that the other is HIV-positive and hesitantly decide to move forward with their relationship. Joanne explains that Mark and Roger's building has been padlocked and a riot has broken out, just before Roger and Mimi share their first kiss. The celebration then continues. The cast lines up to sing together before the plot of the second act begins. Afterwards, Mark and Roger gather to break back into their locked apartment with their friends. A new voicemail reveals that Mark's footage of the riot has earned him a job offering at a tabloid news company called Buzzline. The others finally break through the door just as Benny arrives, saying he wants to call a truce and revealing that Mimi, a former girlfriend of his, convinced him to change his mind. Mimi denies rekindling her relationship with Benny, but Roger is upset, and although they apologize to each other, Mimi goes to her drug dealer for a fix. Around Valentine's Day, Mark tells the audience that Roger and Mimi have been living together, but they are tentative with each other. It is also told that Maureen and Joanne are preparing another protest, and during rehearsal, Maureen criticizes Joanne's controlling behavior and Joanne criticizes Maureen's promiscuous mannerisms. They break up dramatically coming up with an ultimatum. Time speeds on to spring, but Roger and Mimi's relationship is strained by Mimi's escalating heroin usage and Roger's lasting jealousy and suspicion of Benny. Each alone, Roger and Mimi sing of love and loneliness, telling each other how they feel, as they watch Collins nurse Angel, whose health is declining due to AIDS. By the end of the summer, Mark continues to receive calls offering a corporate job at Buzzline. A dance is performed representing all the couples' sex lives. At the climax of the number, the two former couples break up, and Angel suddenly dies. At the funeral, the friends briefly come together to share their memories with Collins being the last to reminisce. Mark expresses his fear of being the only one left surviving when the rest of his friends die of AIDS, and he finally accepts the corporate job offer. Roger reveals that he is leaving for Santa Fe, which sparks an argument about commitment between him and Mimi, and between Maureen and Joanne. Collins arrives and admonishes the entire group for fighting on the day of Angel's funeral, causing Maureen and Joanne to reconcile, but not Mimi and Roger. The group shares a sad moment, knowing that between deaths and leaving, their close-knit friendships will be breaking up. Everyone leaves except Mark and Roger, and so Mark tries to convince Roger to stay in New York. Roger, unable to handle Mimi's declining health, becomes angry with Mark and leaves. Mimi returns to say goodbye, overhears everything Roger says, and, terrified, agrees to go to rehab. Collins is forcibly removed from the church for being unable to pay for Angel's funeral. Benny shows compassion by paying, causing him and Collins to recuperate their old friendship. A short time later, both Mark and Roger are simultaneously reaching an artistic epiphany, as Roger finds his song in Mimi and Mark finds his film in Angel's memory. Roger returns to New York just in time for Christmas, and Mark quits his job to work on his own film once more. The characters' parents leave several worried messages on their phones, and on Christmas Eve, exactly one year having passed, Mark prepares to screen his now-completed film to his friends. Roger has written his song, but no one can find Mimi for him to play it to. Benny's wife, discovering Benny's relationship with Mimi, has pulled Benny out of the East Village. The power suddenly blows and Collins enters with handfuls of cash, revealing that he reprogrammed an ATM at a grocery store to provide money to anybody with the code (A-N-G-E-L). Maureen and Joanne abruptly enter carrying Mimi, who has been homeless and is now weak and close to death. She begins to fade, but not before telling Roger that she loves him. Roger tells her to hold on as he plays her the song he wrote for her, which reveals the depths of his feelings for her. Mimi appears to die, but abruptly awakens, claiming to have been heading into a white light, except that a vision of Angel told her to go back. The remaining friends gather together in a final moment of shared happiness and resolve to enjoy whatever time they have left with each other, affirming that there is "no day but today". Musical numbers ; Act I * "Tune Up #1" — Mark and Roger * "Voice Mail #1" — Mark's Mother * "Tune Up #2" — Mark, Roger, Collins, and Benny * "Rent" — Mark, Roger, Benny, Collins, Joanne, and Company * "You Okay Honey?" — Homeless Man, Angel, and Collins * "Tune Up #3" — Mark and Roger * "One Song Glory" — Roger * "Light My Candle" — Mimi and Roger * "Voice Mail #2" — Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson * "Today 4 U" — Collins, Roger, Mark, and Angel * "You'll See" — Benny, Mark, Roger, Collins, and Angel * "Tango: Maureen" — Joanne and Mark * "Life Support" — Gordon, Paul, Mark, and Company * "Out Tonight" — Mimi * "Another Day" — Mimi, Roger, and Company * "Will I?" — Steve and Company * "On the Street" — Three Homeless People, Squeegee Man, Mark, Collins, Angel, and Homeless Woman * "Santa Fe" – Collins, Angel, Mark, and Company * "I'll Cover You" — Angel and Collins * "We're Okay" — Joanne * "Christmas Bells" — Company * "Over the Moon" — Maureen * La Vie Bohème" — Mark, Waiter, Roger, Benny, Mimi, Collins, Angel, Maureen, Joanne, Mr. Grey, and Company * "I Should Tell You" — Mimi and Roger * "''La Vie Bohème B" — Maureen, Collins, Joanne, Mark, Angel, and Company ; Act II * "Seasons of Love A" — Company * "Happy New Year A" — Mark, Roger, Mimi, Collins, Angel, Maureen, and Joanne * "Voice Mail #3" — Mark's Mother and Alexi Darling * "Happy New Year B" — Mark, Roger, Mimi, Collins, Angel, Maureen, Joanne, and Benny * "Take Me or Leave Me" — Maureen and Joanne * "Seasons of Love B" — Company * "Without You" — Roger and Mimi * "Voice Mail #4" — Alexi Darling * "Contact" — Angel and Company * "I'll Cover You (Reprise)" — Collins and Company * "Halloween" — Mark * "Goodbye Love" — Mark, Roger, Mimi, Collins, Maureen, Joanne, and Benny * "What You Own" — Mark and Roger * "Voice Mail #5" — Roger's Mother, Mimi's Mother, Mr. Jefferson, and Mark's Mother * "Finale A" — Homeless People, Mark, Roger, Collins, Maureen, Joanne, and Mimi * "Your Eyes" — Roger * "Finale B" — Company Category: Stage musicals